2017 MLS Match Preview: Atlanta United vs. New England Revolution

Atlanta United vs. New England Revolution 2017 MLS Regular Season - Week 28 Mercedes-Benz Stadium - Atlanta, Ga. Wednesday, Sept. 13  7 pm ET

Atlanta United opened Mercedes-Benz Stadium in style Saturday, rolling to a dominant 3-0 win over FC Dallas in front of a sold-out crowd of 45,314 fans. The expansion club will look to keep the party going just a few days later as they welcome a New England Revolution side they'll need to fend off for an Eastern Conference playoff berth.

Atlanta will have to get used to the compressed schedule as Saturday's game kicked off a grueling eight-games-in-24-days schedule, the first six of which are at home. But the Five Stripes will likely continue to be galvanized by the electric atmosphere at their new stadium, saying they'll "rely on these fans to pick us up" during a busy stretch.

The odds may be stacked against the Revolution, who are 0-10-3 away from home and the only team in the league without a road win this season. But led by red-hot playmaker Lee Nguyen, who's vying for membership in the league's 50-50 club, the Revs are riding high after winning two straight at home. And another win would move them within one point of sixth-place Atlanta for the final playoff spot.

Atlanta United

Projected Starting XI (4-2-3-1, right to left): Brad Guzan — Anton Walkes, Michael Parkhurst, Leandro Gonzalez Pirez, Greg Garza — Jeff Larentowicz, Carlos Carmona — Hector "Tito" Villalba, Miguel Almiron, Yamil Asad — Josef Martinez

Notes:  Atlanta has lost seven of their 15 matches against Eastern Conference opposition this season (5W-3D), although they last lost a home match to an Eastern Conference rival on April 30th (3W-2L-1D overall at home against Eastern Conference teams). ... Atlanta is unbeaten in seven consecutive home games (6W-1D) and have outscored the opposition 19-6 along that run. ... Atlantas 12 shots on target against FC Dallas on Sunday matched the most any MLS team has tallied in a single match this year (Chicago had 12 against Vancouver on July 1st and RSL had 12 against LA on July 4th).

New England Revolution

Projected Starting XI (4-2-3-1, left-to-right): GK: Cody Cropper  Chris Tierney, Claude Dielna, Antonio Mlinar Delamea, Benjamin Angoua  – Scott Caldwell, Gershon Koffie – Lee Nguyen, Juan Agudelo, Teal Bunbury – Kei Kamara

Notes: After only winning five of their first 19 games this year (9L-5D), the Revs have won five of their last eight regular-season matches (3L). ... The Revolution have won 50 percent of the eight matches that Teal Bunbury has started (4W-4L) and 31.6% in the 19 games he has not (6W-8L-5D).

All-Time Series

Wednesday's match will be the first-ever meeting between the expansion side and the Revolution. They meet again in New England on Sept. 30.

Referees

Referee: Baldomero Toledo Assistant Referees: Gianni Facchini, Jeff Muschik Fourth Official: Marcos DeOliveira Video Assistant Referee (VAR): Ted Unkel